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🎙️ Episode 23: Writing Urban Fantasy Full-Time — A Conversation with P.L. Matthews (Paola) Paola writes cosy urban-fantasy murder mysteries set in Sydney (witches, vampires, gargoyles… plus an actual mystery solved with smarts, not spellwork). But the part that hooked me wasn’t the genre magic — it was the honesty: She made “every mistake” at the start and kept going anyway She didn’t tell anyone she was writing… until she hit 60,000 words She ran ads, started selling, panicked, stopped… then rebuilt confidence and kept marketing She translates her books (with human proofing) and built an international readership She treats this like a small business because that’s what it is If you’re writing, publishing, or trying to make this work without waiting for permission, this article will hit. Read it on Substack: Episode 23 show notes + highlights + pull-out quotes (perfect for any writer who needs a kick forward). https://open.substack.com/pub/amrasarmchairanecdotes/p/turning-witches-and-mysteries-into?r=i0jxk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true 
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What happens when a war follows you home? Mad Dawn Winter is a crime novel rooted in the shadow of the Vietnam War and Australia’s conscription era. In a small Australian town, a grieving mother wants answers about her son—a veteran whose murder was never solved. Journalism cadet Seka Torlak thinks she’s starting fresh in Riverwood. Instead, she walks straight into corruption, loyalty, and a past no one wants examined. This is crime fiction with teeth. No neat endings. No easy heroes. Kickstarter is now live. Be part of the launch. The Past Never Stays Buried A Vietnam War cold case. A town full of secrets. Support Now. Link below or in bio. https://www.amrapajalic.com/dawn.html In this episode of Amra’s Armchair Anecdotes, I’m joined by P.L. Matthews (Paola) — an Australian indie author writing cosy urban-fantasy mysteries set in Sydney. Paola grew up with a mother who claimed she could see fairies in the garden. She wrote award-winning stories in her twenties. Then she stepped away from writing for years. And then — quietly, stubbornly — she came back. Now she writes the Green Witch Mysteries, runs her own marketing, translates her books, and has sold thousands through indie publishing. But here’s what I love about this conversation: She doesn’t romanticise it. Writing full-time has been the hardest thing she’s ever done. Editing drives her mad. The messy middle slows her to a crawl. She panicked when ads started working. And yet she keeps going — because storytelling is where she feels most herself. We talk about: ✨ Starting again after years away ✨ Learning Facebook ads from scratch ✨ Translating your work into multiple languages ✨ Selling books without waiting for permission ✨ Creating stories that leave readers lighter and more hopeful If you’re an indie author, aspiring full-time writer, or someone who suspects there’s a creative life waiting for you — this one will resonate. 🎧 Listen to Episode 23 now. https://www.amrapajalic.com/podcast.html Pull up a chair. What do mandalas, menopause, carnivore eating, and creative courage have in common? More than you think. In my latest Substack article, I unpack my conversation with Vicki E. Stergiannis — educator, art therapist, creative firecracker, and unapologetic carnivore — and the thread that ran through it all: 👉 Passion isn’t random. 👉 Curiosity isn’t silly. 👉 That flame you feel? It’s not an accident. We talk about: – Letting go of performative creativity – The “dance with the universe” instead of forcing outcomes – Mandalas as a path back to wholeness – Perimenopause, protein, and questioning nutrition dogma – Sugar cravings, fasting, and whether moderation is actually a myth for some of us – The courage to experiment with your own life This isn’t a “try this diet” article. It’s a conversation about agency. About listening to your body. About acting on creative impulses before fear talks you out of them. And yes — we go there on fibre. If you’re midlife, mid-pivot, mid-questioning-everything… this one is for you. Read it on Substack. Link in bio. https://open.substack.com/pub/amrasarmchairanecdotes/p/when-creativity-meets-carnivore-free?r=i0jxk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true  He was 63 when he told my mother the truth. He had carried it for more than fifty years. This week I’ve published an essay about masculinity, migration, childhood sexual abuse, cultural misdiagnosis, and the long shadow of silence. It’s about the man who raised me — and the boy he never stopped being. We talk a lot about resilience. We talk less about what happens when strength becomes armour. When silence becomes survival. When trauma migrates into the body and lives there for decades. This is not a sensational story. It’s a human one. If you’ve ever tried to understand a man who seemed angry, controlling, distant, or impossible to reach — this piece might shift something for you. Read: What Research Says About Male Sexual Abuse — and What It Looked Like in My Family Link in bio / comments. https://open.substack.com/pub/amrasarmchairanecdotes/p/what-research-says-about-male-sexual?r=i0jxk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true  There’s something special about opening the studio doors and saying, come in — this is what we’ve been making. Coming up soon I’ll be part of the Hunt Club Studio Artists exhibition — studios open, artwork on display, workshops happening all afternoon — and I’m running a hands-on session close to my heart: Identity & Belonging: Memoir Writing We’ll explore who you are, where you come from, and the moments that shaped you. Through guided brainstorming and practical exercises, you’ll begin crafting an opening scene of your own memoir. We’ll work with sensory detail, characterisation, and narrative techniques — not theory, but actual writing. You’ll leave with the start of a piece that’s yours. 📍 Hunt Club Community & Arts Centre 775 Ballarat Road, Deer Park 🗓 Saturday 14 March 2026 ⏰ 2:30–3:30 PM 👥 Adults and kids welcome I’m excited to share this part of my creative life with the Brimbank community. Come wander the exhibition, meet the artists, and maybe tell your own story. https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1527206  What happens when creativity collides with the carnivore diet? In Episode 22 of Amra’s Armchair Anecdotes, I sit down with Vicki E. Stergiannis for a conversation that goes way beyond food. We talk about passion as responsibility. About courage as a muscle. About that inner flame that keeps nudging you toward the thing you actually want. Vicki says something that stopped me mid-interview: “When you're given passion, it's your responsibility to act on it. It's like free energy that needs to be expressed through you.” Free energy. Not guilt. Not obligation. Not “should.” Energy. If you’ve been sitting on an idea… If you’ve been waiting to feel ready… If you know there’s a flame there but you’re scared to step into something new… This episode is your nudge. 🎙 22 – When Creativity Meets the Carnivore Diet: A Conversation with Vicki E. Stergiannis https://www.amrapajalic.com/podcast.html Writers talk about the finished book. I talk about the machinery behind it. Writing Diary #7, 2026 is live — and it’s the unfiltered breakdown of what it actually looks like to build a writing career week by week. Inside this week: • 0.99 promo results for Ghosts Among the Gumtrees (and why I’ve stopped obsessively tracking sales) • My exact Facebook ads strategy — $5/day, manual targeting, what’s working • Kickstarter for Mad Dawn Winter finally approved (after a glitch I caused 🙃) • How I structure a professional media kit (and why every author needs one) • Revising Book 4 of the Seka Torlak series and why giving a manuscript time matters • Five library events locked in for 2026 • Mentoring emerging writers + first memoir workshop of the year This diary isn’t just “I wrote 1,000 words.” It’s business strategy, emotional reality, marketing experiments, revision struggles, and the long game of being an indie author who refuses to wait for permission. If you’re curious about how books actually get built — not just written — this one’s for you. https://open.substack.com/pub/amrasarmchairanecdotes/p/writing-diary-7-2026?r=i0jxk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true    Somewhere along the way, making bread stopped being about bread. And publishing stopped being about writing. Both became about accessories. Both became about proof. If you’ve ever been told you’re “not ready” — this one’s for you. https://open.substack.com/pub/amrasarmchairanecdotes/p/you-dont-need-a-dutch-oven-to-make 
Enjoyed talking to Anjanette so much about my book, writing and creativity. Such a wonderful conversation.
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AuthorAmra Pajalić is an award-winning author, an editor and teacher who draws on her Bosnian cultural heritage to write own voices stories for young people, who like her, are searching to mediate their identity and take pride in their diverse culture. She writes memoir, young adult and romance under the pen name Mae Archer. newsletterSign up and receive free books.
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